Abstract : The report describes a program of investigating boating accidents involving (1) fire and explosion cases and (2) swamping and capsizing cases within the continental United States. The entire program has been designed to be of maximum value to technical committees involved in the development of broad-based safety standards and to those in the Government with the responsibility of developing regulations for boats. The report describes the methodology involved in carrying out the program including (1) the system used in reporting accidents from all over the continental United States, (2) the guidelines for selecting cases to be investigated, (3) a discussion of the investigation techniques and limits and (4) the methods developed to accumulate the data collected.